Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Rick "centrality of faith" Santorum's challenge of "certain" winner Mitt Romney (2012's Tom Dewey?): I was state (VP Mondale's MN) campaign manager for President Carter's 1980 re-election. Many Democrats were rooting for Gov. Reagan to become the 1980 GOP nominee, believing Reagan to be an unelectable right wing radical (1964 Goldwater champion), "B" (Bedtime for Bonzo)-grade actor candidate who ...had failed in his 1968 & 1976 nomination bids. The 2012 spotlight moves to Illinois on March 20 and returns south to Louisiana on March 24. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, poverty-stricken Louisiana was a hotbed of radicalism (called populist by some and facist by others), embodied by their Democratic governor, then U.S. Sen., Huey P. Long. Teamed with popular radio preacher Father Charles Coughlin, Long was seen as a threat to President Roosevelt's 1936 reelection before Long was assassinated in 1935. Long's masterful stump and broadcast presence had contributed to a charisma that transcended his public rhetoric and stands on issues. Q: Taking a look at the recent GOP exit-poll internals of married women, workers & younger voters--does Sen. Santorum have Huey Long-like, Ronald Reagan-like electoral potential? If so, (we) supporters of President Obama might want to be careful what we wish for where Sen. Santorum is concerned. 02.23.1934, U.S. Sen. Huey P. Long, national radio speech, Every Man a King, details his philosophy (biblical Christianity, anti-elites, pro-economic equity) and platform (redistribution of wealth), excerpts: Is that the right of life, my friends, when young children of this country are being reared into a sphere which is owned more by 12 men than it is by 120,000,000?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Adrenaline rules a lot of Americans. For example, there are few things I like better than Chris Matthews' insightful and informed Hardball thinking. Today he got at least two of his guests to agree to the notion of a delegates-short-of-nomination Mitt Romney needing to bargain for Gingrich, Paul and Santorum support/ers. Matthews observing that we might see the first unsettled-in-advance nomination since the 1952 Eisenhower-Taft contest. I half expect the Santorum campaign to outright adopt the "In your heart, you know he's right" 1964 Goldwater slogan.